Review by serendipitysbooks - The Forgotten Hours

serendipitysbooks 's review for:

The Forgotten Hours by Katrin Schumann

3.75

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Katie’s father is due to be released from prison after serving six years for the rape of Lulu, Katie’s friend, one summer when the girls were just young teens. He continues to maintain his innocence and Katie has always believed him. But, a decade later, as she cleans out their lakeside cabin, where the alleged assault took place, she becomes determined to fill in the gaps in her memory and try to understand what really happened that night.

I liked how the truth was slowly revealed and various red herrings discarded. How sad that many of them even factored into the reasoning of Katie and the reader. Katie was something of a cold fish, hard to like, but it was a good to see her slowly emerge from under her father’s thumb. I really wanted to hear more from Lulu, potentially the most interesting character, but this was not her story. It was the story of a complicated father-daughter relationship, and finally reckoning with the truth.

While this book did hold my interest - like Katie I needed to find out exactly what happened - I had a few issues with it. I struggled to believe the friendship between Katie and Lulu - too much telling and not enough showing. The final showdown between Katie and her father felt a little too dramatic and action-packed, more like a movie script than a scene for this novel. An enjoyable enough read.

Content Warnings